Roughriders Earn a Spot in the Championship Game
Reviewed by Zachary Shaver on
Jun 02.
The Roughriders baseball team advanced to the NJCAA World Series Championship Game today with a 7-3 victory over Iowa Western Community College Thursday afternoThe Roughriders baseball team advanced to the NJCAA World Series Championship Game today with a 7-3 victory over Iowa Western Community College Thursday afterno
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Roughriders Earn a Spot in the Championship Game

The Roughriders baseball team advanced to the NJCAA World Series Championship Game today with a 7-3 victory over Iowa Western Community College Thursday afternoon in Grand Junction, Colorado. Yavapai now has a 48-20 overall record and Iowa Western concludes their season at 52-15.

Hayden Durkiewicz took the ball on the mound today and was dominant from the bump. Durkiewicz threw 5.2 innings surrendering 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 5 Reiver batters. Equally impressive was Nikko Ortega and Zach Pederson while Turtle Kuhaulua earned the save in 2 innings of relief.

Yavapai took an early 1-0 lead after the first inning and added two more runs in the third inning. Iowa Western closed the gap with two runs in the top of the sixth inning only to have YC match those runs in their half of the sixth inning. Yavapai added two more runs in the eighth inning. The Reivers attempted a comeback in the ninth inning plating one run before Kuhaulua slammed the door.

Offensively, each Roughrider starter had at least one hit on the day. Nate Easley had the big blow, a two-run triple in the third inning.

Gavin Johns, Caden Goldby and Kuhaulua each had two hits.

YC has secured a spot in the championship game. However, the opponent has yet to be determined.

The Roughriders have a day off on Friday and will play in the Championship Game on Saturday at 7:00 PM Colorado Time. They will play the winner of the Chattahoochee Valley and San Jacinto Game being played Friday at 7:00 PM. Chattahoochee Valley beat San Jacinto this evening, 14-4 giving a single loss to San Jacinto. Chattahoochee already suffered a defeat earlier in the tournament. The games can only be viewed on MLB.com.